Search form

Turkey Loses Access to New Android Phones Amid Dispute

Google has informed its Turkish business partners it will not be able to work with them on new Android phones to be released in the country, after the Turkish competition board ruled that changes Google made to its contracts were not acceptable.

In September 2018, Turkey’s competition authority fined Google 93 million lira ($17.4 million) for violating competition law with its mobile software sales. The company was given six months to make changes to restore competition.

The Turkish regulator had asked Google to change all its software distribution agreements to allow consumers to choose different search engines in its Android mobile operating system. The probe was triggered by a filing by Russian competitor Yandex.

Turkey’s competition board ruled on Nov. 7 that changes which Google made in its contracts with its business partners in line with the board’s demands were inadequate as they still did not allow changes to the default search engine.

“We’ve informed our business partners that we will not be able to work with them on new Android phones to be released for the Turkish market,” the Google statement said.

“Consumers will be able to purchase existing device models and will be able to use their devices and applications normally. Google’s other services will be unaffected,” it said, adding that it was working with the authority to resolve the issue.